This invention relates to communications onboard an air vehicle and between an air vehicle and a ground control center such that the communications are controlled to ensure, among other things, that high priority communications that support the flight operations continually have sufficient communication bandwidth for transmission and reception by the air vehicle.
While an air vehicle is in operation, various types of communications occur onboard the air vehicle and between the air vehicle and other locations. The communications include the transmission and reception of voice and data communications. For example, the flight crew may communicate with flight control personnel on the ground, the flight crew may communicate with the passengers via a public-address (PA) system, and the passengers may communicate via telephones or other electronics. Additionally, data such as updated weather information, entertainment programs and the like are oftentimes received by the air vehicle.
An air vehicle typically has a finite communication bandwidth that may be utilized to support all of the communications that occur onboard the air vehicle and between the air vehicle and other locations. The conventional process of supporting all of the air vehicle communications within the communication bandwidth involves allowing any type of voice or data communications to use a portion of the bandwidth if it is available, much like a first come, first serve basis. Until recently, the communication bandwidth for an air vehicle has been sufficient to support most, if not all, of the air vehicle communications without having different types of communications contending for the same portion of the bandwidth.
The quantity of voice and data communications that is desired to be transmitted between the air vehicle and the ground control center is increasing rapidly. For example, the computers onboard an air vehicle generate substantial amounts of data, at least some of which is desirably transmitted to the ground control center for review and analysis. Conversely, a ground control center oftentimes has access to large amounts of data that might be useful to the flight crew. In addition, passengers are carrying on more portable electronic devices, many of which also compete for a portion of the communications bandwidth. As such, the communications bandwidth may be quickly depleted, thereby preventing or at least delaying at least some communication.
Another example of increased communications between the air vehicle and the ground control center is illustrated in that, in the past, the ground control center only had the ability to transmit basic flight advisories to flight crew in the air vehicle, which merely provided an alert or warning to the flight crew. In addition, air vehicles only have had the ability to transmit basic flight data to ground control centers, leaving the detailed flight data to be recorded along with cockpit voices and instrumentation readings in the air vehicle""s flight data recorder, and cockpit voice recorder, also known as the xe2x80x9cblack boxes.xe2x80x9d
As described above, the quantity of air vehicle communications has increased and is anticipated to increase even more rapidly in the future. It is therefore possible that future air vehicle communications may exceed the existing communication bandwidth of the air vehicle. For instance, if a number of passengers are using onboard telephones or other electronic devices during the flight of the air vehicle, the passenger communications may occupy a significant amount of the available bandwidth. Thus, if the flight crew needs to transmit flight information to or receive flight information from the ground control center, there may not be enough communication bandwidth available to support the transfer of the flight information. Thus, the flight crew may not obtain or at least experience a delay in obtaining valuable flight information.
Therefore, a need in the industry exists to support increased communications onboard an air vehicle and between an air vehicle and other locations. In supporting the increased demand for the communications bandwidth, there is a need to insure that the most important communications that occur onboard the air vehicle and between the air vehicle and other locations continually have sufficient communication bandwidth such that they are not blocked or delayed by the monopolization of the communications bandwidth by other, less important types of communications. In particular, there is a need to ensure that the flight crew has the most complete and accurate information possible in order to permit them to make well-informed decisions that result in a safe and more efficient flight.
In this regard, the method and system of one embodiment monitor the communications onboard the air vehicle and between the air vehicle and the ground control center to insure that those types of communications that are considered the most important will always be supported and will not be blocked or delayed as a result of a monopolization of the communications bandwidth by other types of communication of lesser importance. Other aspects of the method and system of the present invention further assist in the safe flight of the air vehicle by permitting the air vehicle to be flown and landed while in an auto-pilot mode without further manual input, by displaying target settings of respective parameters provided by the ground control center, by providing detailed flight data to the air vehicle from the ground control center and by examining audio and/or video data in the ground control center that was captured onboard the air vehicle to identify individuals that may pose a security risk while the air vehicle is in flight.
In one advantageous embodiment of the present invention, a method and system are provided for selectively allocating the communication bandwidth supported by an air vehicle. In this regard, the air vehicle includes a communication system for transmitting and receiving different types of communication signals. In addition, a priority hierarchy is provided for the different types of communication signals based on the relative importance of the signals. The priority hierarchy may involve assigning a higher priority to communications between a ground control center and the air vehicle and assigning a lower priority to passenger communications. Additionally, the priority hierarchy of this embodiment may be stored in the data management controller of the air vehicle.
The air vehicle of this embodiment also includes a processing element. According to the system and method of this embodiment, the processing element is responsive to the priority hierarchy and monitors the communication signals transmitted to and from the air vehicle via the communication system. The processing element then dedicates portions of the communication bandwidth to predefined types of the communication signals based on the priority hierarchy. When dedicating the portions of the communication bandwidth, the portion of the communication bandwidth available to lower priority communication signals may be limited if higher priority communication signals are to be transmitted. In addition, the portion of the communication bandwidth dedicated to predefined types of communication signals may be reallocated as different types of signals are to be transmitted. To determine whether to dedicate a portion of communications bandwidth to a certain communication signal, the processing element may read a header associated with the communication signal to determine the type of the signal, and may then determine the relative importance of this type of communication signal based upon the priority hierarchy. To permit ongoing communications between the air vehicle and the ground control center, even if the communication bandwidth is otherwise occupied, a portion of the communication bandwidth may be permanently dedicated to communications between the air vehicle and the ground control center, thereby serving as a command and control channel.
The system and method of this embodiment of the present invention advantageously ensure high priority communication signals, such as communications transmitted between the air vehicle and a ground control center, sufficient communication bandwidth such that the high priority communication signals are not blocked or delayed by lower priority communication signals, such as passenger phone calls. The safety of the overall flight of the air vehicle is therefore preserved even as the competition for the communications bandwidth increases because the higher priority communication signals continually have sufficient bandwidth to be transmitted to and from the air vehicle, resulting in the flight personnel in the air and on the ground having sufficient data to consistently make well-informed decisions.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for engaging the auto-pilot mode of an air vehicle from a ground control center. The auto-pilot mode is engaged from a ground control center by establishing communication between the air vehicle and the ground control center, transmitting the auto-pilot instructions to the air vehicle from the ground control center, and engaging the auto-pilot mode in response to the instructions from the ground control center. The auto-pilot mode may be irrevocably engaged for the duration of the flight, if desired.
Once the auto-pilot mode is engaged, the air vehicle may be flown based on pre-stored flight instructions. Alternatively, further instructions from the ground control center may control the flight of the air vehicle following engagement of the auto-pilot mode. The air vehicle may be both flown and landed in the auto-pilot mode, which may include automatically extending the flaps and slats of the air vehicle and automatically extending the landing gear of the air vehicle. Furthermore, a display of the status of the auto-pilot mode may be located onboard the air vehicle. The display may be imposed upon a display otherwise dedicated to depicting other flight information. Permitting the auto-pilot mode of an air vehicle to be engaged from the ground control center provides, among other things, a safety mechanism to insure the continued safe flight and landing of the air vehicle. As such, the auto-pilot communications between the ground control center and the air vehicle are examples of high priority communication signals that maintain the safety of the flight and landing, and will generally be accorded a high priority in the priority hierarchy.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, an improved method is provided for engaging the auto-pilot mode in an air vehicle by issuing an instruction from onboard the air vehicle. Once engaged, the auto-pilot mode of this embodiment can fly and thereafter land the air vehicle without requiring further input from any person onboard the air vehicle. In order to permit the air vehicle to be flown and thereafter landed without further manual intervention, the flaps and slats of the air vehicle may be automatically extended and the landing gear of the air vehicle may be automatically extended. The auto-pilot mode may be irrevocably engaged for the duration of the flight. Alternatively, the auto-pilot mode may be disengaged by providing a code to permit manual control of the air vehicle to resume. As before, the status of the auto-pilot mode may be depicted on a display located onboard the air vehicle, such as by being imposed upon a display otherwise dedicated to depicting other flight information. Engaging the auto-pilot mode in an air vehicle by issuing an instruction from onboard the air vehicle and thereafter flying and landing the air vehicle without further input from any person onboard the air vehicle also insures the continued safe flight and landing of the air vehicle.
A further embodiment of the present invention provides an improved method and system for displaying at least one target setting of a respective parameter upon a corresponding instrument display of an air vehicle. In this embodiment, a ground control center transmits at least one target setting for the respective parameter to a display controller, which is onboard the air vehicle. The display controller then instructs the instrument display to display the target setting along with the current setting of the respective parameter.
The ground control center may monitor the flight of the air vehicle by monitoring external parameters, instrument settings and the performance of the air vehicle. Based upon the monitoring of the flight of the air vehicle, the ground control center may generate at least one target setting for a respective parameter based at least in part upon the performance and flight of the air vehicle, and then transmit the target setting(s) to the air vehicle, such as via satellite communication. The method and system of this embodiment of the present invention also insures that the flight to the air vehicle is safe and efficient by enabling the flight crew to adjust its flight pattern to meet target settings for certain parameters that will result in better flight performance. Thus, the communications between the air vehicle and the ground control center that establish the target settings are further examples of the types of high priority signals for which bandwidth should continually be available.
According to another embodiment, an improved system and method for providing detailed flight data to an air vehicle are provided. The detailed flight data is provided by a ground control center that communicates with a data management controller of the air vehicle. The ground control center typically includes a processing element to monitor the flight of the air vehicle and a transmitter to transmit additional flight data from the ground control center to the air vehicle, wherein corresponding flight data has generally been stored in a memory device. The additional flight data is in at least the same level of detail as the corresponding data stored onboard the air vehicle to at least supplement the data stored onboard the air vehicle. The data management controller drives at least one display onboard the air vehicle based upon data stored onboard the air vehicle. The data management controller typically drives the display by altering the display based upon the additional flight data provided from the ground control center. In this regard, the additional flight data provided from the ground control center may be imposed upon a display otherwise dedicated to depicting other flight information. The additional flight data transmitted and displayed may include terrain data, a modified flight path that may be based upon a simulation conducted at the ground control center, and/or weather data from the ground control center.
The system and method of this embodiment is beneficial because it provides the flight crew with detailed information that they otherwise would not have, which assists the flight crew in making well-informed decisions regarding the flight. As such, flight safety is maintained or improved due to the additional, detailed information transmitted between the air vehicle and the ground control center. Therefore, these signals are also examples of high priority signals for which bandwidth should continually be available.
An improved method and system for monitoring an air vehicle, such as for safety reasons, are also provided. The air vehicle is monitored by at least one sensor that records audio and/or video data from within the air vehicle. A transmitter then transmits the data from the air vehicle to the ground control center. A processing element in the ground control center examines the data by comparing the data to a security database to identify individuals of interest, such as individuals that may pose a security risk, while the air vehicle is in flight. While the ground control center may include the security database, the processing element also may link the ground control center to an external security database.
If an individual of interest is identified by the processing element in the ground control center, a transmitter in the ground control center may transmit security procedures to the air vehicle. The security procedures then may be depicted on a display onboard the air vehicle, such as by being imposed upon a display that is otherwise dedicated to depicting other flight information. The method and system of this embodiment of the present invention also provide for increased safety features onboard the air vehicle and the signals between the air vehicle and the ground control center are other examples of high priority signals for which bandwidth should continually be available.
Thus, the system and method of the present invention provide a technique in which the most important communications that occur onboard the air vehicle and between the air vehicle and other locations will continually have sufficient communication bandwidth such that they are not blocked or delayed by less important communications, even as the demand for the communications bandwidth increases. The system and method of the present invention therefore ensure that the flight crew on an air vehicle and the flight control personnel on the ground have the most complete and accurate information available, such that the people in control of the flight can make well-informed decisions that maintain or improve the safety and efficiency of the flight.